Beowulf Comics

 

My interest in  Beowulf began with my interest in Tolkien.  I've long been a fan of his well-known works (LotR, Hobbit), but have been following up with some of his work that is harder to read (Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, History of Middle-Earth).  These aren't as immediately accessible as his other work, but I find that as I work through them and study them, my understanding and appreciation of his work grows. My goal is to read everything written by Tolkien, including his academic writing, so I began his Translation and Commentary of Beowulf.  Again, this is not a work to breeze through, but I have enjoyed reading and rereading, and making notes as I read. For me this also includes drawing!

If you know me at all, you know that's how I think and process information.  I've also noticed that my eleventh graders come to art class talking about Beowulf as assigned reading.  I hope that my example of visualizing and illustrating selected passages encourages them to approach their reading in a similar way.  

I'm experimenting with a different style of "coloring" -- using pencil shading techniques over a line drawing.